For more than five decades, Ashley E. Arnold served the Elgin community. He was a bank president and school board president, and he served on the boards of many educational, cultural and civic organizations. "He was a man of character," said his daughter Linda Ireland. He taught family members "to use our talents and gifts to make the world a little bit better place." Mr. Arnold, 83, died Tuesday, March 4, in Sherman Hospital in Elgin. The longtime Elgin resident was born and raised in Kalamazoo,...

Mass for Martin P. Gleason, 94, a former Joliet official and bank executive, will be held Monday at 11 a.m. in the Cathedral of St. Raymond Nonnatus, 604 N. Raynor Ave., Joliet. Mr. Gleason died Saturday at St. Joseph's Medical Center in Joliet. In 1916, he was the quarterback of the Joliet Steel Works Club, one of the state's fledgling football teams, when it defeated the forerunner of the Chicago Bears, the Decatur Staleys. Mr. Gleason was the baseball and football coach of De La Salle High School in Joliet...

Retired banker C. Fletcher Lamphere, 93, of Elgin was a community leader who raised money for local charitable organizations and served on the boards of the Elgin Industrial Development Commission and the Elgin Police Pension Board. Mr. Lamphere, a retired president of Union National Bank in Elgin, also championed the fight against branch banking. In the 1960s he served as co-chairman of the Anti-Branch Banking Group. "He very much believed in personalized banking," said Jere McGill, a friend of...

Former Clinton aide Webster Hubbell and the Rose Law Firm of Little Rock, Ark., have settled a lawsuit filed by a couple who alleged he mishandled a problem involving a business loan. The settlement avoided a jury trial that was set to begin Tuesday. Hubbell, who held the No. 3 post at the Justice Department until he resigned in 1994, and the firm -- where First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton was once a partner -- were defendants in a civil malpractice case filed by Robert H. Kinkead and Virginia...

Clarence D. "Obie" Oberwortmann, co-founder of what became First Midwest Bancorp. Inc. and a donor to civic causes in Joliet, died Thursday at Provena St. Joseph Medical Center in Joliet. He was 88. Mr. Oberwortmann grew up in Chetopa, Kan. In July 1928, he began his career as a bookkeeper at Citizens State Bank in Hutchinson, Kan. From 1930 until 1936, he was a federal bank examiner in several southwestern states. In 1939, Mr. Oberwortmann became vice president and cashier for...

Retired banker C. Fletcher Lamphere, 93, of Elgin was a community leader who raised money for local charitable organizations and served on the boards of the Elgin Industrial Development Commission and the Elgin Police Pension Board. Mr. Lamphere, a retired president of Union National Bank in Elgin, also championed the fight against branch banking. In the 1960s he served as co-chairman of the Anti-Branch Banking Group. "He very much believed in personalized banking," said Jere McGill, a friend of...

Former Clinton aide Webster Hubbell and the Rose Law Firm of Little Rock, Ark., have settled a lawsuit filed by a couple who alleged he mishandled a problem involving a business loan. The settlement avoided a jury trial that was set to begin Tuesday. Hubbell, who held the No. 3 post at the Justice Department until he resigned in 1994, and the firm -- where First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton was once a partner -- were defendants in a civil malpractice case filed by Robert H. Kinkead and Virginia...

Clarence D. "Obie" Oberwortmann, co-founder of what became First Midwest Bancorp. Inc. and a donor to civic causes in Joliet, died Thursday at Provena St. Joseph Medical Center in Joliet. He was 88. Mr. Oberwortmann grew up in Chetopa, Kan. In July 1928, he began his career as a bookkeeper at Citizens State Bank in Hutchinson, Kan. From 1930 until 1936, he was a federal bank examiner in several southwestern states. In 1939, Mr. Oberwortmann became vice president and cashier...

Frank Turk Sr., a Will County civic leader, business owner and co-founder of First Midwest Bank, died Sunday at his home in Joliet. He was 93. Mr. Turk loved the Joliet area and devoted his long life to making it a better place for his neighbors and their families, said his daughter, Suzanne Wright. Born in Kankakee, Mr. Turk moved to Joliet in 1923 to join the family furniture business, which is known today as Turk Furniture. When Mr. Turk died, he was chairman of the board for...

Frank Turk Sr., a Will County civic leader, business owner and co-founder of First Midwest Bank, died Sunday at his home in Joliet. He was 93. Mr. Turk loved the Joliet area and devoted his long life to making it a better place for his neighbors and their families, said his daughter, Suzanne Wright. Born in Kankakee, Mr. Turk moved to Joliet in 1923 to join the family furniture business, which is known today as Turk Furniture. When Mr. Turk died, he was chairman of the board for...

Joliet city officials said Monday that Mayor John Bourg has had no influence in directing where millions of dollars in city operating funds are deposited. In a prepared statement signed by Acting City Manager John Mezera, City Treasurer Robert Fraser and Assistant City Treasurer Richard Yucius, the officials said "neither John Bourg nor any person acting on his behalf has ever directed, demanded, requested or suggested that city funds be deposited in any financial institution." The...

Joliet city officials said Monday that Mayor John Bourg has had no influence in directing where millions of dollars in city operating funds are deposited. In a prepared statement signed by Acting City Manager John Mezera, City Treasurer Robert Fraser and Assistant City Treasurer Richard Yucius, the officials said "neither John Bourg nor any person acting on his behalf has ever directed, demanded, requested or suggested that city funds be deposited in any financial institution." The...

Richard C. Curran was named chairman and chief executive officer and William S. Blalock was appointed president and chief operating officer of Borg-Warner Automotive Inc. C. Richard Barney was appointed president of the W.H. Miner division of Miner Enterprises Inc. Michael Lutz, president of Nationwide Acceptance Corp., was elected to the board of directors of Pioneer Bank & Trust Co. Thomas K. Stat was named president and chief executive officer of RMM Inc. ...

Mass for Martin P. Gleason, 94, a former Joliet official and bank executive, will be held Monday at 11 a.m. in the Cathedral of St. Raymond Nonnatus, 604 N. Raynor Ave., Joliet. Mr. Gleason died Saturday at St. Joseph's Medical Center in Joliet. In 1916, he was the quarterback of the Joliet Steel Works Club, one of the state's fledgling football teams, when it defeated the forerunner of the Chicago Bears, the Decatur Staleys. Mr. Gleason was the baseball and football coach of De La Salle High School in Joliet...